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MOUTH man the McLaughlin, Steve who invented Superbike racing SUPER YAMAHA DT250 YAMAHA RESTORATION great British twin British great Lightning redefines theLightning redefines Sensational A65 BSA From Spanish rallies rallies Spanish From to muddy trials fun: 2014 CLASSIC GUIDE EVENTS

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Classic Bike MARCH 2014 | WILD BSA LIGHTNING SPECIAL | INSIDE HONDA’S CX500 TWIN | BUILD A FITTER HONDA CR250 | WHY THE GOLD STAR WAS A WINNER ON EVERY SURFACE | 2014 EVENTS GUIDE | YAMAHA DT250 RESTORATION | ISSUE #410

21st Century a65

36 ◗ Oguma’s list of the bikes he worked on during his 16 years as a Honda road tester.

Heir supremacy BSA built their last A65 Lightning in 1972. Forty years on, Jim Gysin has created a 21st century successor, complete with bespoke chassis and a radical motor. Prepare for take-off...

Words: rupert paul. photography: jason critchell

37 21st Century a65 ◗ Needless to say, this did not come off a shelf... Bespoke oil tank fits snug as a bug in a rug

◗ Adjustable gear rod was turned from hex. Central hex-section holds the rod while the locknuts are tightened or loosened

◗ Amals only come as left-handers. The solution – a rose-jointed choke linkage – came from the steering for a radio-controlled car

◗ Motogadget tacho also displays mph, voltage, air/oil temp, max rpm, etc. Oil pressure warning doubles as shift light

◗ Just in case you missed the radically different roar it produces...

◗ Sidepanel looks like the BSA original, but is shrunk and substantially restyled to suit the rest of the bike. Curved subframe support tube follows the original’s lines

50 im Gysin, owner of this unique BSA special, tells a with completely empty silencers. The timing gears were drilled by nice story about his first long ride on the bike, in the hand, with all the holes countersunk and cleaned up. The valve J company of his Triumph-mounted brothers Rob spring retainers were all scolloped round the edges – guaranteed and Bill: “It was last summer. We’d been riding all to break at some point, but cheaper than titanium and with the day and stopped for a Ribena in some Welsh village. same effect.” There’s a film of how quick the BSA was (search for This elderly lady comes out, and we’re right in front of the shop – ‘Cadwell Park 94 A65’ on YouTube), showing it being chased three noisy bikes going ‘broom, broom’, with the three of us round Cadwell by a screaming CBR400 at a Performance Bikes yelling to each other. We’re expecting her to say: ‘Get those bloody trackday in 1994. Even from the Honda’s cockpit you can hear things out of the way’. What she actually did was go into mum the Beeza’s ear-splitting roar, and marvel at its drive out of mode: ‘Oh, it does you good to see good old British . corners. Years later, Jim tracked down the BSA’s builder on the They’re lovely’. You wouldn’t get that on anything else. But that’s phone. The old gentleman, whose name Jim has sadly mislaid, what British bikes do – they seem said he sold the BSA to a guy to engender a feeling of warmth who made him an offer he and nostalgia in everyone.” couldn’t refuse – and then It’s a reaction Jim’s getting used ‘The more finished a bike looks, realised immediately he’d to, even though his bike is a very the harder it is to imagine the done the wrong thing. different animal from the BSA A65 The brothers built Rob’s Lightning upon which it’s based vast piles of physical, financial Bonnie, engaging top-quality on, and that he rode for 20 years. specialists Metal Malarkey to Apart from the crankcases, and spiritual swarf that created it’ make the frame and P&M to cylinder head, fuel tank and a few assemble the engine. Next smaller bits, this reborn Beeza is made from completely new parts came Bill’s Trident, featured in Classic Bike in December 2011. – most of them highly modified or designed from scratch. The Finally, in early 2012, it was the turn of Jim’s BSA. With two result is a Brummy twin that goes, stops, turns and rides like a amazing bikes under their belts, the brothers decided the A65 modern bike, but retains the charisma of its 1960s inspiration. would be more adventurous, but retain the original café racer’s Jim and his brother Bill dreamed up the idea of a 21st century red tank and chrome mudguards. “The goal was lightness and British bike in a pub in 2006. At the time they were plotting to trickness,” says Jim. “A 270° crank and a light, chromoly frame.” re-engineer a Bonnie for third brother Rob’s 50th (see below). The more finished a bike looks, the harder it is to imagine the But the impetus for choosing a Brit bike in the first place was Jim’s vast piles of physical, financial and spiritual swarf that created it. BSA Lightning café racer, which he’d bought in 1991 for £1950. Point at any part of the BSA and the brothers will produce a “It had been built in the late 1970s, then put into a museum,” Jim hilarious tale of interconnected problems, blind alleys, false starts explains. “I bought it not even knowing if it would run. I’d just and wasted money. Together, these yarns would fill the entire sold a Triton that literally disintegrated beneath me. The BSA had magazine, so we’ll take just one – the mudguards. a matt black exhaust bolted on in about four places, and I thought: In keeping with the original bike, they had to be chrome. But to ‘That’s not going to fall apart’.” accommodate a 160-section tyre, the rear mudguard had to be a Within minutes of starting the bike, Jim realised he’d bought custom item. Bill considered steel, briefly. “I thought: ‘How the something special; 23 years later, he relives the moment with hell am I going to add three inches to the middle without it rolling eyes, wild hand gestures and extravagant sound effects. looking crap? So we decided make them out of GRP, which was “It was like, brrrrm, this is good, warrr, this is quick, narrrrgh, good for light weight, and get them metallised.” this is bloody unbelievable! Then I changed from third to fourth. Jim takes up the story with the air of a man who has learned Hang on, the clutch is slipping! But no – it had a close-ratio ’box!” the hard way not to take himself too seriously. “We started off When the BSA finally blew up eight months later, the brothers with some chrome-sprayer bloke. He had about five attempts, and had the chance to appreciate what had gone into the motor. it came out in various shades of copper and purple.” Bill chips in: “It was a masterpiece, built by someone who knew what they were “And each time it happened we had to take the paint off again, doing, but didn’t have any money,” says Bill. “It had a Devimead take it back to the paint shop and get it smooth as a baby’s bum 750 conversion and timing-side roller bearing. The matt black in primer to get the new finish applied.” Next Jim found a pipes were tucked in and upswept, cut and shut round the rearsets, metalliser. “He was just rubbish. He was on the phone: ‘They

He ain ’t Heavy, He’s my brotHer (and so is He) Bill and Jim Gysin planned to build three lifetime spent building custom cars and no-compromise British bikes as “a kind of boats to subtly update the original styling. thread to bind us back together again,” as “The bikes had to look as good as Jim puts it. The first, a 50th bir people’s memories of them,” says Bill. thday present Bonnie for oldest brother “Rob reckons only about one person in 25 Rob, set the style for what was to come: realises how special his Bonnie is. The Metisse-type frames by Metal Malarkey, rest just say: ‘You’ve looked after that P&M tuned motors, Maxton suspension, well.’ As far as we can tell, nobody’s ever ISR brakes and switchgear, Hinckley done this before with these bikes.” Search Triumph forks, modern tyres and for ‘Classic British Bikes Reborn’ on Motogadget electrics. Bill and Jim used a YouTube for the three brothers’ tale.

39 21st Century a65

‘On a stock A65 the vibration is enough to turn your blood to cappuccino froth. The brothers say this one finally starts shaking at 8000 revs’

look lovely, mate!’ But he didn’t have a clue. I just said: ‘How pratting about.” Bill, who did the lion’s share of the build, comes much do we owe you?’. That was another £120. Then he was: closer to revealing the dark night of the special builder’s soul. ‘We’ll do ’em again!’ ‘You’ve done enough damage,’ I told him.” “You really have to want to do it. Otherwise you begin to question Finally, as Bill explains, something went right. “Jim found this your own sanity, as well as other people’s.” little outfit in Brough who subcontract stuff like headlamp There were more long waits for the made-to-order Megacycle reflectors for Land Rover. These guys had a proper chamber big camshaft, needed to suit the 270° offset Nourish crank they’d enough to apply what’s called conductive primer. Then they spray hoped to use. When that, too, took longer than anticipated, they on aluminium and immediately lacquer it.” It sounded good, but turned to Geoff Collins of Ed G Cranks in Toronto. Geoff welds then came the phone call. “They said: ‘Sorry, lads. It hasn’t worked. up a 270° crank from two originals and his work arrived as a We’re not happy at all.’” The mudguards had seen so much paint straight bolt-in. P&M’s initially-suspicious Dave Whitfield fitted it and filler there were tiny air bubbles popping out during the in the cases, added SRM 750 barrels and pistons, an SRM high- process, leading to barely-visible pinpricks in an otherwise perfect flow oil pump and a cylinder head gas-flowed and rebuilt by finish. But it was so much better than anything else we’d had.” Richard Peckett with lightened and polished rockers. ‘Oily Tom’ I asked Jim how long the mudguards took. “I’d say six months, Moore of Moore Performance Engineering provided new driving around the country,” he replied cheerily. “It’s just constant lightened timing gears, and the existing close-ratio box was

40 ◗ Engine is offset 12mm to allow a 160-section rear tyre – trompe l’oeil exhaust downpipes restore the central look. The engine is also canted forward 13° Advanced Tickets for ALL BMF Shows to add visual dynamism. This raised the engine Now ON SALE! NO sprocket relative to the pivot – Metal booking fees - Malarkey’s adjustable pivot compensates nicely NO admin fees - NO postage fees Under 16’s Go FREE!*

british motorcyclists federation

BMF May Show 2014 The BMF Show May 16-18 2014 at the Peterborough Arena Are you a fan of real Classic & Vintage motorcycles? If so the BMF show could be music to your ears... Look and listen to the Glorious noise of age old machines as they roar into life in our New

zone. “VisitFire our Classic and Vintage displays,it chat andup” reminisce with our owners clubs and associates amongst a great selection of motorcycles. See Special Guest David Hailwood with some famous Family Heirlooms. Plus...Triumph Owners Club...Vincent Owners Club... VMCC...Hailwood Events and more! adventure & overland touring PLUS zone GREAT LIVE MUSIC FANTASTIC LIVE ACTION ARENA ENTERTAINMENT MOTOSTUNTS INTERNATIONAL MOTOBALL AND ACU renovated with gears from Morespeed. Bob Newby supplied 1000CC RACING the dry clutch and belt primary drive. A special Pazon ignition MANUFACTURERS & CLUBS arrived from New Zealand in two weeks. A GREAT FAMILY DAY OUT Over in Shropshire, Malcolm Shepherdson of Metal Malarkey modified the previous bikes’ Metisse-type frame to LARGE AUTOJUMBLE suit the 20mm-shorter A65, and lengthened the swingarm by 1000’S OF TRADE BARGAINS the same amount. He also developed rearsets, a gear linkage, a Other BMF 2014 Show dates: Kelso Bikefest 4-6 July sidepanel and seat unit (all of them useful, but eventually Tailend 12-14 September changed), as well as the oil tank and battery tray, the rear brake reservoir and the fabulously stylish, ceramic-coated Parking at the show is FREE and children under 16 get FREE entry exhaust. As Bill and Jim’s ideas evolved, the original Gold Star when accompanied by a paying adult*(this includes camping!) alloy fuel tank got four new bases. They spent long weeks Ticket Hotline: 0844 8845151 styling and then building the final versions of the seat, tank Book online at: www.thebmfshow.co.uk and sidepanels, as well as the myriad jobs no one else cares follow us on twitter/facebook about: hiding the loom, shortening bolts and plumbing-in Show organisers: the Mulberry Group ‘The best thing about building a bike like this is all the different people we’ve learned from. People who have a great deal more experience than us’

◗ Just as Jim has the Motogadget clock and M-Unit (a digital electrical control unit gone his own way that dispenses with fuses and relays) and ISR switchgear. with his A65, so Their conversation returns again and again to ace fabricator Rupert coolly Malcolm, and Richard and Dave at P&M. Says Bill: “The best ignores signage thing about building a bike like this is all the different people we’ve learned from who have a great deal more experience than us, particularly Malcolm and P&M. We’ve had constant battles with them about the importance of aesthetics over function, and how our balance is different from theirs. I’m sure initially they thought we were a bunch of tarts, but I think the respect flows both ways now.” The BSA was understandably grouchy on its first awakening. It registered 60bhp on P&M’s dyno before fracturing its one-piece exhaust and blowing much of its oil out of the breather. But by January these troubles were sorted. Like all high-compression, belt-drive Brit bikes, it’s a sod to kick over. Bill uses a petrol-driven roller from cold, but it fires instantly, emitting a huge, rich, Conan-the-Barbarian bellow from its twin silencers. The basic idea of a 270° (or thereabouts) crank on a parallel twin is to reduce vibration. On a stock A65, that vibration is enough to turn your blood to cappuccino froth. But as you pull away on Bill’s bike (nice clutch), all you’re aware of is a friendly, lolloping growl as the bike gets up to comfortable speed. The motor’s in a fairly high state of tune, with Megacycle’s hottest road cam, but it doesn’t feel remotely peaky. What you do notice is how quickly the revs rise and fall – the effect of the lightened internals.

perfectionism in pictures

After an extended dalliance with Metal Malarkey’s integral oil tank, Short motor allowed a 20mm-longer Exhausts look simple but aren’t. Nourish, Jim looked to a Canadian breather and battery box. Sorting swingarm than the brothers’ other Silencing wadding is replaceable company for his smoother, 270° crank the breathing was a real headache Malarkey-framed machines without cutting the meggas up 43 21st Century a65

SPECIFICATION Useable power starts around 3000rpm, and even at 6500 it’s still 2013 BSA A65 LIGHTNING DITIO smooth. The brothers say it fi nally starts shaking at 8000, but I D NA ENGINE/TRANSMISSION A L can’t bear to rev the still-new motor that hard. For the kind of use C Type air-cooled, two-valve twin O

N

the bike encourages – razzing along between 50-90mph – the T with 270° crank

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N balance factor is perfect. The gearbox (one-up, three-down) is T Capacity 725.5cc light and friction-free, and almost up to modern shifting speeds, x 79 x 74mm especially changing down. 10:1 The riding position looks gung-ho, but it’s just right for a Fuel system 2 x 34mm Amal MkII dry multiplate/belt machine that, at 150kg dry, weighs less than a MotoGP bike (Bill Clutch/primary drive Gearbox/fi nal drive close-ratio four-speed/chain reckons the frame alone weighs 4-5kg less than the cold-drawn Download our digital CHASSIS steel versions on his and brother Rob’s Triumphs). It’s also edition for more photos Frame Metal Malarkey twin loop exceptionally agile; the 24.5° steering angle is decades sharper of this amazing a65 Front suspension Hinckley Thunderbird than any classic, but stable with it. Rob’s Bonnie and Bill’s Trident 43mm, Maxton cartridges, get a bit lively on bumpy corner exits. Jim’s BSA stays planted. I’d fully adjustable put that down to its more forward weight bias, longer swingarm Rear suspension twin Maxton shocks, and higher-spec Maxton suspension. Even in modern terms, the fully adjustable ride comfort, steering accuracy and tyre feedback are excellent. Brakes front/rear 320mm disc, 6-piston caliper/210mm disc 2-piston The tyres themselves – modern Michelin radials in 120/70 and caliper (all ISR) 160/60 sizes – are almost unique on a British bike. Triumph and Wheels stainless spokes, Morad BSA chain runs usually mean a 120-section rear is the most you aluminium rims can get away with, but Bill wanted to smash through that barrier, Tyres front/rear Michelin Pilot Road 3, as much for the look as for cornering grip. So he’s offset the engine 120/70 18 / 160/60 18 to the left by around 12mm. “Plenty of people said you can’t do DIMENSIONS that, but no one I respected, and Malcolm said it’d be okay.” And Dry weight 331lb (150kg) can you tell? No, you can’t. The bike feels as balanced as any Wheelbase 50.8in (1400mm) other. The fat front suits the ample power of the ISR disc, too. You Seat height 30in (762mm) Fuel capacity 4 gallons (18 litres) could ride this bike in the fast group on a modern trackday. PERFORMANCE To most riders, the fi nal years of BSA evoke a kind of dog-eared Top speed 125mph glory, a sense of what might have been. If the factory had Peak power 60bhp at 8000rpm somehow staggered on for another 40 years, would they be COSTS building something like this, just as Kawasaki have done with Price then n/a their W800? Maybe so. But it wouldn’t have been half as good. Value now £30,000

The brothers would like to thank Metal Malarkey (www.malarkeyengineering.co.uk), P&M Motorcycles (0208 847 1711), Ed G Cranks (www.offsetcrank.com), Maxton suspension (www.maxtonsuspension.co.uk) and Rob Tupper (07545 253834) for his paintwork

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